I'm new to this board, though I have been browsing it without an account for almost a year.

There is something that I feel I must write about here, and that is Icelandic Black Metal. It's rarely spoken of, though the scene offers some of the most promising black metal acts I've encountered in years.

I'm not very familiar with Icelandic Black Metal, in fact I didn't even know there was a Black Metal scene in Iceland until a few months ago, when I discovered Carpe Noctem. The music didn't impress me and their image seemed silly to me, which caused me being unable to take them or their music seriously. I also gave Finngįlkn a listen, same thing, the music was dull and sloppy to say the least, probably won't listen to them again.

At this point I was starting to think Iceland didn't have any decent BM to offer, until I heard Chao's demo, "Spiritus Sankti". Their style could best be described as an adaption of Deathspell Omega, with the atmosphere of DSO's older material and the songwriting style of their newer material. But only Icelandic. Still, I have to be in a special mood to listen to them.

Then an Icelandic friend of mine recommended I'd check out Svartidauši and Abominor, two bands who are apparently both recognized as Iceland's top black metal acts. I gave both bands a listen and checked all of their material the Internet could provide. Unfortunately, there isn't much by them available online. Svartidauši's 2006 demo "Temple of Deformation" and their 2010 promo "Those who Crawl and Slither Shall Again Inherit the Earth" are the only Svartidauši releases I could find. Both releases are great, the former being a lot more primitive and less complex, straight to the point and raw as fuck, while the latter presents a whole new atmosphere and song structures, without going too far from their early material. The songs are long, and the music is addictive, 2 tracks, ca 20 minutes. They also have a few live videos up on youtube, quality aside they seem to be a great live band. Apparently they are working on a full length, can't wait to get my claws upon that.

Unfortunately, Abominor only have one release out, their 2010 demo entitled "Source of Chaos". 4 tracks, two of them can be found online at their Reverbnation page. To my understanding, this demo withhelds their older material, which the members of the band consider their past, and they don't even play these songs live anymore. Never the less, this demo is among the best releases I've heard in months. The music could be described as some adaption of Bestial Death/War Metal, only colder and more chaotic. A friend of mine saw them opening for Negative Plane in Iceland last year, where they performed their forthcoming EP in it's entirety, and he described the set as the most killer live performance by an unknown band he had ever witnessed. Their newer material is far away from the 2010 demo though, judging from the live video below. Quality isn't great, but it's acceptable. I have probably listened to this track about 5 times a day since I first heard it, the fast parts are so massive and chaotic, while the slow hypnotizing chapters give the track a strong ritualistic atmosphere. The video itself is also enjoyable, mainly because how drugged/drunk the members appear.

abominor i've never heard them called one of iceland's finest but good they are. they should get back on track soon with the return of their original drummer. i saw them live at stįlsmišjan last year when the drummer from chao played with them. violence.

carpe noctem great band and the two demos are worlds apart. i'm told the new material will kill. they look good live as well.

chao of course chao is great! shit goes without saying. yeah, they really are good and would fall under the orthoblack genre musically. that tape terratur released is a mandatory purchase for people that like music.

curse moved to norway but still create music. did a split with sykdom some years back.

dynfari did a very sloppy blackdoom release last year but their new stuff is much better. if you like slow and depressing black metal then you'll love them.

finngįlkn split up as far as i know which is a damn shame.

fortķš moved to norway as it's the same guy behind both curse and fortķš. their last album was great and people that want black heathen metal need to check it out.

hindurvęttir is a new icelandic band which i'd say plays pomoblack which is in the vein of wolves in the throne room and such. good shit but if you want bulletbelts and barbed wire then look elsewhere.

norn i saw live at stįlsmišjan as well and they've got a bit of later day darkthrone thing going on. there are two bands called norn in iceland. one is black punk and the other is very primitive punk.

vansköpun certainly deserves a mention and i guess many have checked out the tape barghest released last year? if not, what's the hold up? we're in economical crisis, people, and we are using our black metal acts to pay icesave.

svartidauši of course one cannot mention icelandic black metal without mentioning svartidauši. icelandic black metal is svartidauši. album out later this year through daemon worship and terratur i think. stay tuned!

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okay, so i might have forgotten a project or two that's active, it was unintentional so don't hold a grudge! however, a few that are active but not exactly black metal...

wormlust yeah, i know i'm being a bit boring here but i don't think wormlust is black metal but it is great music. why isn't it black metal? i don't know, i just think it's more universal as such.

sólstafir aren't black metal, perhaps they never were, but they are all semi-satanik black magick mystics of relaxation. at least one of them owns an original copy of "fire and steel" so that deserves a mention.

potentiam are back on track having attacked crowley and spare. the drummer of afsprengi satans is back in the band.

atrum is skrišdrekametal for people that like behemoth and emperor.

kontinuum i know nothing of but it involves on current member of potentiam and one ex-member of potentiam.

Last edited by harmless on Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:39 am; edited 2 times in total